Latest news with #WissamHaddad
News.com.au
17-07-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Wissam Haddad ordered not to ‘deliberately bury' court notices on social media after losing racial discrimination case
A Muslim preacher who made 'fundamentally racist' and 'anti-Semitic' remarks in a series of speeches will be prevented from any attempt to 'bury' an admission he broke the law. Wissam Haddad was found to have breached the racial discrimination act following a four-day hearing in the Federal Court last month over a series of speeches he gave in November 2023, in which he described Jewish people as 'vile', 'treacherous', 'mischievous' and 'wicked and scheming'. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry's (ECAJ) co-chief executive Peter Wertheim AM and deputy president Robert Goot AO SC to launched court action against Mr Haddad over the speeches, arguing they constituted unlawful discrimination; Mr Haddad claimed he was referring to Islamic scripture in most cases. The proceedings also extended to the Al Madina Dawah Centre (AMDC) for posting videos of the speeches online via Facebook and video-sharing platform Rumble. Justice Angus Stewart found Mr Haddad and AMDC breached the racial discrimination act in delivering and publishing the speeches online, which he said included 'fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic' age-old tropes against Jewish people which were reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate and intimidate Jewish people in Australia. More than two weeks following the judgment, Justice Stewart has now moved to prevent corrective notices from being 'deliberately buried' on Mr Haddad's and AMDC's social media pages. Mr Haddad was ordered to post a corrective notice to Instagram and Soundcloud for 30 days, which is required to be given prominence by being 'pinned' to the top of his Instagram profile and added as a story highlight. The notices include words expressing Mr Haddad and AMDC breached the racial discrimination act and were required to remove the speeches and not to repeat or continue 'unlawful' behaviour. AMDC were similarly ordered to add the notice as a 'featured' post on Facebook, and a featured video on Rumble. 'In short, the 'pinning' and 'featuring' of the posts will prevent them from disappearing from view in a short period of time, and it will prevent them from being deliberately buried by way of successive further posts,' Justice Stewart said in his judgment. While Mr Haddad and AMDC accepted changes to the wording of the notices put forth by ECAJ, they argued the feature and pin tools on Instagram and Facebook were typically used for entrepreneurial and marketing purposes, and therefore would force them to 'advertise' and 'promote' the notice and go beyond what they considered an appropriate redress measure. However Justice Stewart was satisfied pinning and featuring posts on the platforms was 'not onerous', 'complicated' or 'time consuming', and doesn't require the payment of any fees. 'I am also not persuaded that to require the respondents to 'pin' and 'feature' the corrective notices would be unduly burdensome from the perspective of dominating or cluttering their relevant accounts,' Justice Stewart's judgment stated. 'Other posts will still be able to be made, and it is proposed that the notices are required to be published for only 30 days.' He noted the notice would be promoted to an extent, but said Mr Haddad and AMDC had 'promoted the unlawful lectures and it is not disproportionate to require them to promote the corrective notice'. He also rejected Mr Haddad and AMDC's arguments the lectures weren't 'directly' posted to Instagram and Facebook, finding the links posted on the platforms to those lectures facilitated 'easy access for anyone interested in seeing the lectures'. Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim welcomed the new order in a statement on Thursday afternoon. He said: 'We see this as an essential part of counteracting the harm that was caused by their online promotion and reproduction of Haddad's anti-Semitic speeches.' In his judgment at the beginning of July, Justice Stewart discarded arguments by Mr Haddad and AMDC that the speeches in question were exempt under 18D of the racial discrimination act as they had a genuine purpose in the public interest, and in AMDC's case, that the speeches were a 'fair and accurate report' on a matter of public interest. They had also submitted the relevant sections of the racial discrimination act were beyond parliamentary powers due to the implied freedom of political communication, and additionally the freedom to exercise any religion as per the constitution, both of which Justice Stewart found to have failed. Both Mr Haddad and AMDC were ordered to remove the lectures from their social media and to take all reasonable steps to request any re-publishers also remove the speeches if they become aware of their redistribution. He moved to restrain Mr Haddad from discriminating against Jewish people in the future, barring him from causing words, sounds or images to be communicated anywhere 'otherwise than in private' which attribute characteristics to Jewish people that convey any of the disparaging imputations identified from the speeches.
The Guardian
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Sydney Muslim cleric told to prominently display online judge's findings he was ‘racist and antisemitic'
An Islamist preacher who used harmful racial stereotypes about Jewish people in sermons will be forced to tell the world of his antisemitism through prominent online posts. Sydney-based Al Madina Dawah Centre cleric Wissam Haddad was ordered by the federal court earlier in July not to repeat the perverse and racist tropes he used in a series of fiery sermons from November 2023. In the speeches, Haddad - who is also known as William Haddad or Abu Ousayd - variously referred to Jewish people as 'vile', 'treacherous', 'murderous' and 'mischievous'. Justice Angus Stewart found the sermons contained 'perverse generalisations' against Jewish people and included racist, antisemitic tropes. The judge on Thursday ordered the preacher 'pin' or 'feature' corrective notices describing the court's findings to the centre's website and social media pages on Facebook, Rumble, Instagram and Soundcloud. He has been given 21 days to comply with the order. As of Thursday afternoon, the posts had not been made. Haddad objected to prominently displaying the notices, saying this would go beyond what was ordinarily ordered by the courts. Pinning the posts would be tantamount to promoting or advertising the findings, he said. Justice Stewart ordered the notices to be pinned for 30 days, saying the requirement was not unduly burdensome and would stop them disappearing from view. 'It will prevent them from being deliberately buried by way of successive further posts,' the judge wrote. Promoting the notices was part of their objective, he said. 'The respondents promoted the unlawful lectures and it is not disproportionate to require them to promote the corrective notice in the relatively constrained manner described above as an appropriate form of redress,' he wrote in his judgement. The notice itself highlights the 'unlawful behaviour based on racial hatred' of Haddad and the centre. The three lectures - titled 'The Jews of Al Medina' and published on video hosting site Rumble - were reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate Jewish members of the Australian community, the notice says. The lawsuit was brought by Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim and deputy president Robert Goot, who claimed the lectures were offensive and could incite violence towards Jewish people. The pair said they were vindicated by Justice Stewart's findings, saying no community in Australia should be dehumanised. 'Freedom of expression should not be abused by the promotion of hateful anti-Semitism and those who wish to do so should know that conduct shouldn't be tolerated by us,' Goot told reporters after the judgement. The cleric has been ordered to remove the lectures and not to repeat similar racist statements about Jewish people in public. He will also have to pay the legal bill for Wertheim and Goot, which is estimated to be in the six figures.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Islamist preacher unable to 'bury' anti-Semitism ruling
An Islamist preacher who used harmful racial stereotypes about Jewish people in sermons will be forced to tell the world of his anti-Semitism through prominent online posts. Sydney-based Al Madina Dawah Centre cleric Wissam Haddad was ordered by the Federal Court earlier in July not to repeat the perverse and racist tropes used in a series of fiery sermons from November 2023. In the speeches, Mr Haddad - who is also known as William Haddad or Abu Ousayd - variously referred to Jewish people as "vile", "treacherous", "murderous" and "mischievous". Justice Angus Stewart found the sermons contained "perverse generalisations" against Jewish people and included racist, anti-Semitic tropes. The judge on Thursday ordered the preacher "pin" or "feature" corrective notices describing the court's findings to the centre's website and social media pages on Facebook, Rumble, Instagram and Soundcloud. He has been given 21 days to comply with the order and the posts had not been made as of Thursday afternoon. Mr Haddad objected to prominently displaying the notices, saying this would go beyond what was ordinarily ordered by the courts. Pinning the posts would be tantamount to promoting or advertising the findings, he said. Justice Stewart ordered the notices to be pinned for 30 days, saying the requirement was not unduly burdensome and would stop them disappearing from view. "It will prevent them from being deliberately buried by way of successive further posts," the judge wrote. Promoting the notices was part of their objective, he said. "The respondents promoted the unlawful lectures and it is not disproportionate to require them to promote the corrective notice in the relatively constrained manner described above as an appropriate form of redress," he wrote in his judgment. The notice itself highlights the "unlawful behaviour based on racial hatred" of Mr Haddad and the centre. The three lectures - titled "The Jews of Al Medina" and published on video hosting site Rumble - were reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate Jewish members of the Australian community, the notice says. The lawsuit was brought by Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim and deputy president Robert Goot, who claimed the lectures were offensive and could incite violence towards Jewish people. The pair said they were vindicated by Justice Stewart's findings, saying no community in Australia should be dehumanised. "Freedom of expression should not be abused by the promotion of hateful anti-Semitism and those who wish to do so should know that conduct shouldn't be tolerated by us," Mr Goot told reporters after the judgment. The cleric has been ordered to remove the lectures and not to repeat similar racist statements about Jewish people in public. He will also have to pay the legal bill for Mr Wertheim and Mr Goot, which is estimated to be in the six figures. Mr Haddad's speeches were delivered after Hamas, designated by Australia as a terrorist group, attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. The attack sparked Israeli retaliation that has left Gaza in turmoil and tens of thousands of civilians dead.
The Guardian
11-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Albanese must be careful that tackling antisemitism doesn't curb free speech
Handing down his ruling in the case of racist and antisemitic speech by the Muslim cleric Wissam Haddad earlier this month, Justice Angus Stewart went to some lengths to note it was not inherently antisemitic to criticise Israel. Haddad was successfully sued in the federal court by members of Australia's peak Jewish body, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, over statements made in a speech in Sydney in November 2023. Stewart said the comments were likely to offend, insult, humiliate and intimidate Jews and thus breached the Racial Discrimination Act. Haddad had used disparaging imputations and made 'perverse generalisations'. The comments do not bear repeating here, especially, as Stewart said, during a period of heightened vulnerability and fragility after the 7 October terror attacks in Israel and amid shocking human devastation from the war in Gaza. However, Stewart's assessment of the broader issue of legitimate comment is instructive. Referencing a separate sermon about the actions of the Israel Defense Forces, the judgment said political criticism of Israel, however inflammatory or adversarial, was not by its nature criticism of Jewish people. 'The conclusion that it is not antisemitic to criticise Israel is the corollary of the conclusion that to blame Jews for the actions of Israel is antisemitic; the one flows from the other,' he wrote. The comments are noteworthy in a week where the attention of the Albanese government and much of the media were focused on actions to combat antisemitism in Australian society, not least because of the ongoing scourge of violent attacks on the Jewish community. On Thursday, Anthony Albanese's special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, presented a major report after months of work. It found a 700% increase in antisemitic incidents in October and November 2023 alone. Segal proposed stripping universities of funding for failing to combat antisemitic activities on campus, recommended changes to deport non-citizens spreading hate and said the government should ensure that public funding to cultural institutions, artists and public broadcasters could not be used to endorse antisemitism. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Segal's plan would rely on a report card system for university campuses, overseen by the special envoy's office, which would measure whether Jewish students and faculty can participate equally without fear for their safety. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry said it strongly endorsed the 'urgently needed' measures in Segal's plan. The prime minister and his home affairs minister, Tony Burke – under pressure from Jewish community leaders, the Coalition and sections of the media over the government's response to hate crimes – did not say how many of the recommendations Labor would take up. Changes to the school curriculum and tougher hate speech laws have already been raised, but other sections of the report must surely worry some in the Labor caucus and others across parliament. Segal's report calls for the envoy to get powers to review and strengthen laws around the country dealing with antisemitic, hateful and intimidating conduct, including 'violent or intimidating protest activity'. This comes despite already restrictive laws on protests across the states and territories and newly toughened rules banning the Nazi salute and the use of hate symbols federally. Worryingly, too, the report placed some of the blame for the rise in antisemitism on 'manipulated narratives' in the legacy media. The comments were not explained in the document. Pushed to provide an example, on Friday Segal highlighted an ABC story about Israel's bombing of a hospital in Gaza, which she said caused members of the Jewish community to be looked at with disgust. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion It turned out Israel was not responsible for the 2023 bombing, so the story was wrong. Segal said the public broadcaster's correction was not proportionate to the original report. Media outlets and journalists have a responsibility to quickly address errors and give due prominence to accurate and updated information, but Israel has blocked journalists from reporting in Gaza, further complicating the difficulty of accessing high quality information in a bloody conflict zone. An investigation by the ABC ombudsman cleared the broadcaster over the incorrect report, finding it was not biased and complied with the required accuracy standards after being updated. Already some reporting and commentary highlighting the plight of innocent people trapped in Gaza is undermined or likened to antisemitism, the result of sometimes overheated criticism and political lobbying. Segal used an ABC TV interview to argue advocating for the destruction of Israel or questioning the right of a Jewish state to exist was clearly antisemitic. The worst corners of social media might advocate that position, but not mainstream Australian media outlets. The ABC and SBS both have editorial policies in place to deal with hate speech, prejudice and offensive content. Efforts to address incorrect reports should rest with individual news outlets, journalists and organisations such as the Australian Press Council, and not the office of a government-appointed envoy. Greg Barns SC, a barrister, has pointed to strengthened hate crime laws passed by parliament in February to better protect synagogues and other places of worship, calling for more time for their effectiveness to be measured before further changes are considered. Barns warned threatening funding to universities and arts bodies could spark censorship and impinge on legitimate freedom of speech. On Friday, Amnesty International Australia said Segal's report risked undermining fundamental civil and political rights and even making community divisions worse. The group said the report proposed 'sweeping, vague, and repressive measures' which threaten rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Segal herself has praised university administrations and vice-chancellors for acting to make Jewish faculty and students feel safe on campus. The case for additional powers, which she says would only be used as a 'last resort' and in the most serious cases, is yet to be adequately made. Segal's report does not give sufficient justification for additional rules or oversight over legitimate public protests, media reporting or campus activities, especially in a climate where demands for such action can be easily politicised. In considering which of Segal's recommendations to take up, Labor must ensure a careful balance of rights is protected and that legitimate political criticism is not mistaken for the problem it is trying to solve.
The Advertiser
04-07-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Why 'racist' preacher couldn't be charged by police
An Islamist preacher who called Jewish people "vile" couldn't face criminal sanctions but new laws might soon allow police to lay charges for similar comments. A ruling in the Federal Court described Wissam Haddad's speech as containing "fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic" tropes and making "perverse generalisations" about Jewish people. But police did not have scope to lay criminal charges when the incident was assessed, a senior officer has revealed. "The legal advice was it wouldn't reach the threshold for prosecution," NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told a state parliamentary inquiry on Friday. The prospects of prosecution would change under laws taking effect in August, he added, although the legislation was not retrospective. Mr Haddad has been ordered by the court to remove the sermons from social media and not publicly repeat similar statements. The change targets intentional incitement of racial hatred, while existing laws dealt with publicly threatening or inciting violence. "The difficulties in the legislation are well known within the Jewish community, which is why the civil action was commenced under a different threshold," Mr Hudson said. The new law would "fill that gap", he said. Its narrow focus on race has drawn criticism but the law may be expanded to protect other groups in the future. The inquiry examining anti-Semitism in NSW was set up in February after incidents including the firebombing of a non-religious childcare centre near a synagogue and a Jewish primary school in Sydney's east. The state Labor government used the incidents as part of its justification for also expanding anti-protest laws to ban rallies outside places of worship. Australia's special envoy to combat anti-Semitism Jillian Segal clashed with politicians at the inquiry over a call to ban pro-Palestine protests she labelled "intimidatory" and "sinister" from city centre streets. Labor MP Stephen Lawrence suggested her comments were an "uncivil way to describe them and the people participating" and risked creating a perception in the Jewish community that the state was letting them down. "These sorts of calls that ultimately aren't grounded in law and reality can have a pernicious effect," he said. Ms Segal did not accept that characterisation but acknowledged she had not attended the protests. She relied on experiences detailed by those in the vicinity who had felt intimidated. "It was really the vehemence and the violence for what was being advocated that I was objecting to," Ms Segal said. "We should be able to go to our city and not feel that. "They were being jostled, they weren't allowed to cross, there was shouting … and they were angry they could not access the shops that they wished to." Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer told the inquiry her school was spending $3.9 million a year on security, a figure that had nearly doubled since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. "Education is constantly disrupted, our teachers are drained, our wellbeing team is overstretched," she said. "Our leaders are operating like a counter-terrorism unit and this has become our normal." The Jewish school, in Sydney's east, faced an average of one security incident per week in 2025, she said. A spate of high-profile attacks over summer included the targeting of a Jewish community leader's former home and the spray-painting of anti-Semitic slurs in various prominent locations. Mr Hudson said reports of anti-Semitism have increased. More than 1100 hate incidents have been reported so far in 2025 - a third of which were anti-Semitic, compared with just over one-fifth of 1300 incidents reported in 2023. An Islamist preacher who called Jewish people "vile" couldn't face criminal sanctions but new laws might soon allow police to lay charges for similar comments. A ruling in the Federal Court described Wissam Haddad's speech as containing "fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic" tropes and making "perverse generalisations" about Jewish people. But police did not have scope to lay criminal charges when the incident was assessed, a senior officer has revealed. "The legal advice was it wouldn't reach the threshold for prosecution," NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told a state parliamentary inquiry on Friday. The prospects of prosecution would change under laws taking effect in August, he added, although the legislation was not retrospective. Mr Haddad has been ordered by the court to remove the sermons from social media and not publicly repeat similar statements. The change targets intentional incitement of racial hatred, while existing laws dealt with publicly threatening or inciting violence. "The difficulties in the legislation are well known within the Jewish community, which is why the civil action was commenced under a different threshold," Mr Hudson said. The new law would "fill that gap", he said. Its narrow focus on race has drawn criticism but the law may be expanded to protect other groups in the future. The inquiry examining anti-Semitism in NSW was set up in February after incidents including the firebombing of a non-religious childcare centre near a synagogue and a Jewish primary school in Sydney's east. The state Labor government used the incidents as part of its justification for also expanding anti-protest laws to ban rallies outside places of worship. Australia's special envoy to combat anti-Semitism Jillian Segal clashed with politicians at the inquiry over a call to ban pro-Palestine protests she labelled "intimidatory" and "sinister" from city centre streets. Labor MP Stephen Lawrence suggested her comments were an "uncivil way to describe them and the people participating" and risked creating a perception in the Jewish community that the state was letting them down. "These sorts of calls that ultimately aren't grounded in law and reality can have a pernicious effect," he said. Ms Segal did not accept that characterisation but acknowledged she had not attended the protests. She relied on experiences detailed by those in the vicinity who had felt intimidated. "It was really the vehemence and the violence for what was being advocated that I was objecting to," Ms Segal said. "We should be able to go to our city and not feel that. "They were being jostled, they weren't allowed to cross, there was shouting … and they were angry they could not access the shops that they wished to." Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer told the inquiry her school was spending $3.9 million a year on security, a figure that had nearly doubled since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. "Education is constantly disrupted, our teachers are drained, our wellbeing team is overstretched," she said. "Our leaders are operating like a counter-terrorism unit and this has become our normal." The Jewish school, in Sydney's east, faced an average of one security incident per week in 2025, she said. A spate of high-profile attacks over summer included the targeting of a Jewish community leader's former home and the spray-painting of anti-Semitic slurs in various prominent locations. Mr Hudson said reports of anti-Semitism have increased. More than 1100 hate incidents have been reported so far in 2025 - a third of which were anti-Semitic, compared with just over one-fifth of 1300 incidents reported in 2023. An Islamist preacher who called Jewish people "vile" couldn't face criminal sanctions but new laws might soon allow police to lay charges for similar comments. A ruling in the Federal Court described Wissam Haddad's speech as containing "fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic" tropes and making "perverse generalisations" about Jewish people. But police did not have scope to lay criminal charges when the incident was assessed, a senior officer has revealed. "The legal advice was it wouldn't reach the threshold for prosecution," NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told a state parliamentary inquiry on Friday. The prospects of prosecution would change under laws taking effect in August, he added, although the legislation was not retrospective. Mr Haddad has been ordered by the court to remove the sermons from social media and not publicly repeat similar statements. The change targets intentional incitement of racial hatred, while existing laws dealt with publicly threatening or inciting violence. "The difficulties in the legislation are well known within the Jewish community, which is why the civil action was commenced under a different threshold," Mr Hudson said. The new law would "fill that gap", he said. Its narrow focus on race has drawn criticism but the law may be expanded to protect other groups in the future. The inquiry examining anti-Semitism in NSW was set up in February after incidents including the firebombing of a non-religious childcare centre near a synagogue and a Jewish primary school in Sydney's east. The state Labor government used the incidents as part of its justification for also expanding anti-protest laws to ban rallies outside places of worship. Australia's special envoy to combat anti-Semitism Jillian Segal clashed with politicians at the inquiry over a call to ban pro-Palestine protests she labelled "intimidatory" and "sinister" from city centre streets. Labor MP Stephen Lawrence suggested her comments were an "uncivil way to describe them and the people participating" and risked creating a perception in the Jewish community that the state was letting them down. "These sorts of calls that ultimately aren't grounded in law and reality can have a pernicious effect," he said. Ms Segal did not accept that characterisation but acknowledged she had not attended the protests. She relied on experiences detailed by those in the vicinity who had felt intimidated. "It was really the vehemence and the violence for what was being advocated that I was objecting to," Ms Segal said. "We should be able to go to our city and not feel that. "They were being jostled, they weren't allowed to cross, there was shouting … and they were angry they could not access the shops that they wished to." Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer told the inquiry her school was spending $3.9 million a year on security, a figure that had nearly doubled since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. "Education is constantly disrupted, our teachers are drained, our wellbeing team is overstretched," she said. "Our leaders are operating like a counter-terrorism unit and this has become our normal." The Jewish school, in Sydney's east, faced an average of one security incident per week in 2025, she said. A spate of high-profile attacks over summer included the targeting of a Jewish community leader's former home and the spray-painting of anti-Semitic slurs in various prominent locations. Mr Hudson said reports of anti-Semitism have increased. More than 1100 hate incidents have been reported so far in 2025 - a third of which were anti-Semitic, compared with just over one-fifth of 1300 incidents reported in 2023. An Islamist preacher who called Jewish people "vile" couldn't face criminal sanctions but new laws might soon allow police to lay charges for similar comments. A ruling in the Federal Court described Wissam Haddad's speech as containing "fundamentally racist and anti-Semitic" tropes and making "perverse generalisations" about Jewish people. But police did not have scope to lay criminal charges when the incident was assessed, a senior officer has revealed. "The legal advice was it wouldn't reach the threshold for prosecution," NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told a state parliamentary inquiry on Friday. The prospects of prosecution would change under laws taking effect in August, he added, although the legislation was not retrospective. Mr Haddad has been ordered by the court to remove the sermons from social media and not publicly repeat similar statements. The change targets intentional incitement of racial hatred, while existing laws dealt with publicly threatening or inciting violence. "The difficulties in the legislation are well known within the Jewish community, which is why the civil action was commenced under a different threshold," Mr Hudson said. The new law would "fill that gap", he said. Its narrow focus on race has drawn criticism but the law may be expanded to protect other groups in the future. The inquiry examining anti-Semitism in NSW was set up in February after incidents including the firebombing of a non-religious childcare centre near a synagogue and a Jewish primary school in Sydney's east. The state Labor government used the incidents as part of its justification for also expanding anti-protest laws to ban rallies outside places of worship. Australia's special envoy to combat anti-Semitism Jillian Segal clashed with politicians at the inquiry over a call to ban pro-Palestine protests she labelled "intimidatory" and "sinister" from city centre streets. Labor MP Stephen Lawrence suggested her comments were an "uncivil way to describe them and the people participating" and risked creating a perception in the Jewish community that the state was letting them down. "These sorts of calls that ultimately aren't grounded in law and reality can have a pernicious effect," he said. Ms Segal did not accept that characterisation but acknowledged she had not attended the protests. She relied on experiences detailed by those in the vicinity who had felt intimidated. "It was really the vehemence and the violence for what was being advocated that I was objecting to," Ms Segal said. "We should be able to go to our city and not feel that. "They were being jostled, they weren't allowed to cross, there was shouting … and they were angry they could not access the shops that they wished to." Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer told the inquiry her school was spending $3.9 million a year on security, a figure that had nearly doubled since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. "Education is constantly disrupted, our teachers are drained, our wellbeing team is overstretched," she said. "Our leaders are operating like a counter-terrorism unit and this has become our normal." The Jewish school, in Sydney's east, faced an average of one security incident per week in 2025, she said. A spate of high-profile attacks over summer included the targeting of a Jewish community leader's former home and the spray-painting of anti-Semitic slurs in various prominent locations. Mr Hudson said reports of anti-Semitism have increased. More than 1100 hate incidents have been reported so far in 2025 - a third of which were anti-Semitic, compared with just over one-fifth of 1300 incidents reported in 2023.
